Chasing Fairytales
by Black-Star98
Summary: Marianna St. North has spent her 193 years of existence cooped up in the North Pole. She wishes for nothing more than to try and find a life for herself. But when Pitch Black threatens the children of the world she has to put her plans on hold and (try to) help the Guardians save their believers.
1. An Upsetting Afternoon

_North Pole, 2012_

It was a fairly typical day.

Well, typical as a day could be at the North Pole.

Yetis worked away diligently in the workshops. Creating planes and dolls and stuffed animals, toys for a Christmas in a not to distant future. Elves ran around the floor nearly causing the others to trip whilst their bells tinkled happily. A blonde girl, who looked no older than sixteen, made her way though the workshop.

Yetis stopped her on her way, asking for her to sign papers and to give approval on finished toys. Upon seeing how much of a commotion the elves were causing, she gave then the 'incredibly important' job of sorting out Christmas decorations. Within five minutes they were already electrocuting themselves on Christmas lights but it didn't seem to bother them, so she let it be.

A grey Yeti indicated towards a batch of yet to be painted toy robots. In his large, furry hands were cans of blue and red paint. He offered both to her, wanting her opinion. The girl thought about it for a minute, "I'd go with the blue." She nodded before continuing her journey towards the elevator leading to the upper levels.

The girl's name was Marianna St. North, daughter of the infamous Nicholas St. North, better known to the world as Santa Claus.

Marianna had spent her entire life at the North Pole, and that was a very long time. And it wasn't that she didn't love it there, because she did, honestly, it was her home. But she sometimes wished for something different, a life outside of the castle hidden in the snow. And she knew that wanting to have control over her life was cliché, she had read enough books and seen enough movies to understand that. But she couldn't help it. It was in her nature.

She blamed her father really. He was the one who lived the life of adventure before she was born. Fighting monsters and protecting children was was all he did before she was born. Then again, that was his job as a Guardian. And he still travelled around the world in one night once a year. So really, she couldn't be held accountable for her actions, it was genetic.

It was because of this that she was making the visit to her father's office. She took a deep breath before knocking on the door.

* * *

North sawed away at a block of with his back to her. He had yet to notice that she had entered the room. Nervously, Marianna cleared her throat. North jumped up, startled.

"Ah, sweetheart! How nice of you to visit." He greeted as he put down the chainsaw. He went over to the cabinet and turned to her "Fruitcake?"

Marianna shook her head, "I'm good, Dad."

"What brings you here?" He asked as he began to chip away at the ice.

"Oh! I-uh, just wanted to let you know that, um, that it looks like we'll make this months quota."

He looked over his shoulder. "Oh, wonderful!"

"Yeah." She nodded with a little too much enthusiasm. She went to the side of the room and tapped her fingers in a beat on the mahogany.

"Dad?"

"Hm?" He hummed, not looking up.

She suddenly found a fascination with one of the ornaments on the cabinet. "You know how you like Christmas lists early?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Well,I know what I want this year."

"Very good, why don't you write it down for me?"

"I can't really do that."

"What do you mean? How can I make my little girl a present if she won't tell me what it is?"

"Well, you see, that's the thing. It's not really something that you can _physically_ give me."

North straightened up at this and turned to face her. "What are you talking about?"

Marianna deeply inhaled then exhaled before speaking again. "I want to go out!"

"What? What do you mean? Go where?"

"I don't know, somewhere! Anywhere! Somewhere besides this!"

"Marianna, this is nonsense. You've never left the Pole."

"Exactly! I want to see what it's like in the Real World!"

"You are far too young to even be thinking about this."

"Dad, I'm not 89 anymore, I could handle it!"

"No! You can't and you won't."

"But, Dad, I-"

"I said no, Marianna."

"But if you would just listen to me-"

"My decision is final."

Marianna headed to door. "You never listen to me!" She yelled before forcefully slamming the door behind her.

North hung his head and sighed.

* * *

She sulkily stomped her way thought the thrall, wishing to brood in her room in a stereotypically teenager-esque fashion when she was stopped by a trio of incredibly panicked Yetis.

"What?"

The Yeti gestured wildly to the giant globe the balcony overlooked. Each light on it represented a child that believed. Normally, it was incredibly bright, especially in the well populated areas of the planet. But something was wrong.

"What in the world?" She muttered to herself as one by one the lights started to fade. "This can't be right!" She began to check all the equipment was in check, that it was just a faulty wore or something. It wasn't. "This is bad, this is very, very bad."

At that moment a black fog began to envelope the room. Marianna looked up in horror.

"Oh,shit"

* * *

**Woo! And the first chapter is done!**

**Please tell me what you think. I'll update soon.**


	2. The Not-so-Great Outdoors

Marianna turned to the Yeti closest to her, "Get my father, now!" The Yeti nodded and rushed in the direction of North's office. Chaos began to ensue as Elves and Yetis everywhere began to pile in to get a look. The dark substance slowly making its way down the globe continued to multiply.

She was panicking. She didn't even know the globe could act like this and the Yetis too were completely lost.

"Shoo with your pointy heads. Why are you always under boot?" North pushed his way through a crowd of Elves to the control desk. "What is this?" He asked in confusion.

"I was hoping you could tell me." Marianna replied, choosing to put their recent argument aside for the time being.

As this happened the mist covered the globe and the floor beneath it. Wind whirled around them, objects flew, Elves struggled to not get blown away. "Carlos! Phil" North turned to the two Yetis and pointed to Marianna. "Get her out of here!"

"Wait-Dad-I!" She protested as they lifted her by the arms and carried her away.

"Go!" North yelled as she disappeared into the crowd.

* * *

"Let go of me!" Marianna kicked and struggled as she was carried into the hall. But seeing that teenage girls can't really fight two Yetis twice their size, it didn't make much of a difference.

They quickly pushed her into the first room that they could find and slammed the door behind her. Unfortunately for Marianna, the room was in fact where North's magic snowglobes for transportation were stored. What was even more unfortunate was that Marianna could not find her balance, causing to her to crash into a stand filled with snowglobes and fall over with it.

The next few moments seemed to pass by in slow-motion. Snowglobes smashed on the floor and Marianna could only watch as she fell into the portal that was made. Then, everything went dark.

* * *

She was cold, very, very cold. Marianna opened her eyes groggily to a blanket of snow. Stifling a scream, she sat up. She was in an alley. And to be fair, it wasn't a dark seedy place like something you would find in a detective movie. In fact, it was rather nice, for an alley. But seeing as this was first time Marianna had ever left the Pole, and she had absolutely no idea of where she was.

She was freaking the fuck out.

"Oh no. Oh no. Oh no." She repeated as she paced back and forth. "This is bad, very, very bad. The Pole is under attack, no-one knows where I am, even I don't do know where I am, _and_ I'm outside, in the snow, without a coat."

"Wait a second." She stopped as she was hit with a sudden realization. "I'm _outside_!" She grinned. "Sure, I don't know where outside I am, but still." She spun around, her long brown skirt stretching out around her before coming to a depressed halt. The Pole could be in serious danger, as could the homes of the other Guardians and here she was stranded in some town that the Moon only knows where with no resources whatsoever. "I need to get out of here." she sighed. "Wherever 'here' is."

This train of thought was interrupted by the unmistakable sound of laughing children. Marianna poked her head out of the alley and look out into the street.

Three boys walked together down the sidewalk. Given how similar two of them looked in age and appearance she figured that they were probably twins. The other boy trailed slightly behind due to the large sled he was carrying. Marianna figured that this was as good a time as any to start a plan to get home.

"Um, excuse me, small children." She spoke up.

The two brothers kept on walking towards the park at the end of the street. The boy carrying the sled stopped and looked at her. Marianna took this as a good sign and kneeled down to be level with him.

"I was wondering if maybe you could tell me where I am?

The brown haired boy, who looked about ten, answered,"You're in Burgess." As though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

But this meant absolutely nothing to Marianna, so she tried again."And where is that, exactly?"

"Pennsylvania."

"As in, America?"

The boy found her naivety peculiar. "Uh, yeah?"

Marianna groaned internally. None of the other Guardians, hell, none of the magical creatures that she knew of, were based in America. Well, except for the Groundhog. But from what Bunnymund had told her, he wouldn't be much help.

Marianna faked a smile and stood up. "Thanks for your help kid."

The boy frowned. "Are you alright Miss?"

She smiled for real this time, touched by the stranger's concern. "Yes, I'll be fine." She lied, not wanting to upset the boy. He didn't seem entirely convinced.

Before he could say anything else, one of the twins called out. "Jamie! What are you doing?"

Marianna took this as her cue to leave. The boy, Jamie, turned back from his friends to see the oddly dressed girl walking away in the other direction. He shrugged and ran to join the others.

* * *

"Hey, Jamie, who was that?" Asked Claude.

"Oh, just a tourist, I think."

"What did she want with you?" Caleb asked from the other side.

"Just directions. I think she caught the wrong bus or something. She didn't seem to have any idea where she was."

Claude frowned. "Well that's kinda weird."

"Yeah, I-" Jamie was cut short by a snowball to the back of the head. He turned around and laughed. "Okay, who threw that?"

* * *

**So what do you guys think? Do you like Marianna? Or is it too soon to tell?**

**While I'm going to try and stick to the plot of the film as much as possible, things might get changed seeing how they turn out.**

**(Just to yet you know, our beloved Jack Frost will appear in the next chapter!)**

**Please review!**


	3. The Dangers of Sledding

'So this is Burgess.' Marianna thought to herself as she made her way through the town. What she was looking for, she didn't know but she had to try something. 'Strange. This is an awful lot of snow for the northeast, and so close to Easter. It should be mostly gone by now.' But it wasn't. It looked like it had been snowing heavily very recently. 'Bunny's not going to like that.'

She wondered how the other Guardians were doing. Did they know what was happening? Had they been attacked themselves? Or had they been summoned to the Pole? Bunny would be in overdrive right now, Easter was only three days. Tooth would at the Palace, overseeing operations. And Sandy would be spreading his dreams, it had to be nighttime somewhere.

Marianna found herself in what appeared to be the town square. In the middle stood a large statue of the town founder and his family on a stone stand. It was small, but nice. She sat down on a park bench nearby. With her chin resting on her hand she muttered, "What am I going to do?"

Down the street she had just walked up came the sound of a boy screaming. Marianna looked up. She watched in confusion as the little boy from earlier sledded down the busy street through traffic. Just when he was about to collide with a snowplough, he made a sharp turn and shot up into the air.

Marianna and the group of friends who had been chasing him stood in awe as he soared. And then in shock when he, rather abruptly, hit the ground at the base of the statue.

"WHOAH! Did you guys see that?" He grinned as he stood up. "It was _amazing_. I-I did a jump and then I slid-" he was cut short by a large pink sofa crashing into him. Everyone grimaced. Marianna could've of sworn she heard someone say,"Whoops." under their breath.

A hand shot up from behind the sofa. "Cool, a tooth!" The children gathered around to get a look at the tooth that had been knocked out as Jamie got back up again. They all talked about their excitement of his impending visit from the Toot Fairy.

"I gotta go put this under my pillow." Jamie lead the others away in the direction of his house.

But of course it wouldn't be the actual Tooth Fairy. Marianna had known Tooth her entire life. She knew that she didn't work in the field anymore. She had her tiny fairies to collect teeth for her. It be one of them collecting the little boy's pillow that night. And taking it back to the Tooth Palace.

This made Marianna seriously consider her chances of grabbing the tooth and running. But then she realised that she had no pillow and that people don't take too kindly to random teenage girls stealing from their children. Before she could do anything else, she was interrupted.

"Now wait a minute, come on, hold on, hold up. What about all the fun we just had?" Marianna poked her head out to look at the other side of the statue where the voice had come from. "That wasn't the Tooth Fairy, that was _me_."

The boy could have only been a year older than her. His hair was a startling white and his skin was incredibly pale. He carried a long wooden staff in his hand. But the oddest thing was that he didn't jump off the statue, he _flew_.

"What's a guy gotta do to get a little attention around here?" But the children weren't listening. They're being quite rude actually, the boy was right there. Or so Marianna thought, until a few of them walked right through him without even noticing.

The boy looked incredibly upset by this. But his expression changed to that of anger. He shoved his hands into his hoodie pocket, walked right by Marianna and flew off with a gust of wind.

Marianna thought about she had just witnessed. She was obviously the only person who'd seen the boy. No-one else could and by the look on face he was used to it. There was no way that the little boy was sledding down the middle of the street, unaided. There was also the insane amount of snow so late in the year. And the fact that the white-haired boy had flown away and had been walking barefoot in the freezing cold brought Marianna to one conclusion.

"That was Jack Frost."

* * *

**Yay! Chapter 3 already! Sorry it was so short. They're going to get longer. **

**Also, is the summary alright, or should I change it?**

**Please remember to review!**


	4. Isn't Blackmail Fun?

Marianna was the child of the one of the most well-known 'mythical' beings in the entire world, she was raised on their stories. She was very much aware of who Jack Frost was. She had heard a lot about him (mostly from Bunny, none of it flattering).

He had shown up about 300 years ago. He was one of the more lesser known magical beings, like the Groundhog and the Giant Squid. He had the unique ability to control everything related to Winter. Snow, Ice and Wind. He was a loner who liked to cause trouble. Especially for Bunny.

'Would explain all the snow.' Marianna thought to herself.

This wasn't the first time that she had seen him. Many times he had tried to sneak into the workshop, but without success. The Yetis made sure of that.

But he was a magical being. A magical being who could travel for that matter. Surely, given the situation, he'd help?

Marianna looked up at the sky. 'Well he's all I've got.' she shrugged. 'Now which way did he go?'

* * *

After an hour and a half she found him. The sun was soon going to set. She made sure to keep her distance. Her plan was to follow him until it was dark. He'd be alone and no-one would see a girl seemingly talking to thin air.

He hadn't noticed her yet. They were heading towards the town centre. He was walking on the roofs of house and she along the sidewalk on the other side of the street. Every once and again he'd look into the houses. What he was looking at, she couldn't tell.

"There's something I'm doing wrong." He said to himself. "Can you just, tell me what it is?" Marianna thought for as second that he was talking to her but then saw that he was looking up.

It was a full moon. It shone as bright as ever. It was beautiful.

Jack turned to face the moon. "Because I've tried everything but no-one, ever, sees me."

Marianna crossed the street and stood in the house's front yard. She had to admit, she felt rather sorry for the boy. Her dad had explained to her what happened to the unbelieved. It must have been such a lonely life.

"You put me here. The least you could do is tell me, tell me _why_." Jack waited for some kind of response, but there was none.

Jack sighed before jumping off the roof in the direction of the railway tracks behind the house. Marianna quickly ran through the lane between two of the house. He was walking along one of the cables that ran over the tracks.

Marianna saw this as the opportunity she had been waiting for. She cleared her throat loudly. "Um, hello?" She called up.

Jack's head picked up at her voice. He looked down at her. Marianna waved. Jack pointed to himself, "Were you, were you just talking to me?"

"No. I was talking to the other albino teenage boy who has a severe dislike for clothing appropriate for this weather." She deadpanned.

The simple fact that she had responded was all the confirmation Jack needed. He jumped off the cable and landed in front of her. "You see me? You mean you actually see me?" His hood had fallen down and he was getting very much in her face.

"Well, yes." She replied, she had to admit, his icy blue eyes were quite unnerving. Jack began to circle around her, seeming to find her incredibly fascinating. Marianna spun around with him, "What? Were you a vulture in a past life?" She stood firmly with her hands on her hips. Jack ceased his examination and leaned against his staff.

"Sorry. It's just, you seem a little old to be a believer." He replied casually.

"That's because I'm not." She chided.

This caught him off guard. "You're not?"

"That's right."

"So, you're not a believer, but you can still see and hear me?"

"Wow, you catch on fast."

A thought hit Jack. "Were you listening just there?" He signalled to the house with his head.

"You mean that plea to the Moon for your backstory?" Marianna smiled. "No."

Jack leaned forward, "Who are you?"

Marianna extended a hand, "Marianna St. North. Friends call me Mary, that is, the two that can actually talk."

Hesitantly, he shook it. "Jack Frost."

"I'm aware."

"Did you say, St. North? As in Santa Claus?"

"Yes. He's my father."

Jack cocked an eyebrow."_You're_ North's kid?"

"Look at me. Is it that surprising?" She gestured to herself. Jack saw what she meant. Her hair was a very pale blonde that stopped just above her shoulders. Her skin looked like it had never seen the sun, but he was one to talk. Her outfit was rather out of place. She wore a red knitted turtleneck sweater connected to a knee-length dark brown skirt with a black fur trim with a black, diamond pattern piece of material. Her feet were kept warm by a pair of chunky brown boots.

"Good point." He walked along side the traintrack. "But that still doesn't explain what you're doing here, Blondie."

Marianna ran in front of him. "That's why I was looking for you. I need your help."

Jack scoffed. "My help? You want my help? I don't know what you've been told, but people usually don't want my help."

"Look, I wouldn't be asking if things weren't as bad as they were."

"Define, 'bad'."

Marianna inhaled deeply before letting it all out in one go. "This black sand stuff attacked the Pole, the lights are going out on the Globe, my Dad told Yetis to throw me in a closet and I had a 'snowglobe malfunction', I ended up here, no-one knows I'm here, I have no way to get home, I was seriously tempted to steal from a ten year old boy and the only person who can help me is being a sassy little bitch!" She bent over as she struggled to catch her breath. Jack looked at her in shock.

"You're right, that is bad."

Marianna's hopes picked up at that. "So you'll help me?"

Jack shook his head."I didn't say that."

"So you're not gonna help me?"

"Look, you don't want my help." He shrugged. "Besides, I bet that your Dad has a whole fleet of Yetis looking for you as we speak." He walked around her. "Just stay put, they'll find you."

Marianna knew that there was some logic to what he was saying. But time was short, she needed to get home _now_. And desperate times called for desperate measures.

In a matter of seconds, she had turned around, shoved Jack forward and had the staff yanked from his hand. Jack managed to find his balance before he could hit the ground. He turned around and looked at his staff in her hand.

"Give that back."

She kept it behind her. "No."

"I'm not asking, I'm telling you; give that back."

"Or what?"

He went to make a grab for his staff but Marianna had already seen it coming. She pulled the crook around his ankle and sent him onto his back. She placed a foot on his chest and tried to point the business end of the staff at his face in as an intimidating manner as possible.

"Now you listen here, bucko. You're going to take me to the North Pole. Or else I'm gonna take this stick of yours and snap it in two. And then we'll both be stuck here."

Jack looked up at her. "You wouldn't."

"I would."

They locked eyes and glared at each-other.

Suddenly, the night sky exploded in streams of gold. Marianna, having never seen so much dreamsand in one go, looked over her shoulder in confusion. Jack took this chance to kick Marianna in the ankle. "Ah!" She cried out in pain as she lifted the leg up. Instantly, Jack snatched the staff off her and used it to pull himself up.

"Right on time Sandman." he smirked.

Marianna glared at him. "You can't blame me for trying."

"True, but I still won't help you." He jumped back onto the cable and gave her a casual salute. "See ya around, Blondie."

But there was no response. Only the quiet sound of sniffing. Jack looked down to see Marianna, on her knees, with her face in her hands. Jack shook is head. "Now come on, don't cry." She kept going. "No, seriously, stop it." She continued to cry. "It's not gonna work. I'm not helping you." She just sobbed louder. Jack groaned. "Fine!" He jumped down and landed in front of her. "I'll take you to the North Pole."

The crying stopped instantly. Marianna looked up as him, face as dry as a bone, and smiled cheerfully. "Great!" She stood up. "Let's go!"

* * *

**Yay! Emotional blackmail is fun, isn't it? I hope Jack wasn't too OOC. **

**Please review!**


	5. Why Jack Should Avoid Dark Alleyways

Jack smacked his forehead, realising that he had been conned. "I'll admit it, Blondie, you're good."

"Yes. Yes I am." She crossed her arms. "And don't call me Blondie."

Jack absentmindedly spun his staff back and forth in his hands."You know, you should be careful how you talk to people doing you a favour."

"Oh no. You agreed. You said that you're taking me to the North Pole. No take backs." A thought hit her."But, um. Quick question. How do we get to the North Pole?" Marianna asked rather bashfully.

Jack stopped his twirling."The only way I know how."

"Which is?"

He looked at her as though it was the obvious thing in the world."By wind?"

She frowned."That doesn't sound very safe."

Jack leaned forward."Come on. Don't you trust me?"

Marianna raised a dark eyebrow. "I just met you."

Jack shrugged, "Fair enough."

Marianna looked up. The dreamsand had travelled all the way across the night sky. It twisted and interlapped in streams of gold. It slinked into windows to carry out it's purpose. "Beautiful." She whispered. Jack was used to seeing the spectacle every night but couldn't help but follow her gaze. "Yeah, it is."

Marianna snapped out her daze and sighed. Jack took this as sign for them to going. He offered his hand. "I'm ready when you are, Blondie." Marianna smiled in bemusement before taking it.

"Lead the way, Snowball."

"Just to check. You haven't got a fear of heights, do you?"

"Marianna scoffed. "After the 'reindeer incident' nothing scares me."

Jack made a mental note to look into that later. "Well then, I would advise you to hold on to your skirt."

Marianna obeyed. "Why do I need to- AAAAHHHH!" She was cut short by Jack sending them up into the air. She floundered in the odd position while he lead the way with the grace from centuries of experience. Jack laughed at her inability to get used to it as they flew over the last few streets with houses before the business district. "I thought you said nothing scares you?" He called out.

"I did. But there's being scared and then there's being caught of guard. I was the latter!" She yelled above the wind.

This made Jack laugh even harder. That was, until something rushed by them. Jack abruptly landed in a tree. Marianna was about to whisper."What was that?" Before being shushed. Jack surveyed the area. The branch next to them rustled as the thing flew by them again. He forcefully pulled her along the tops of cars, alarms blaring, into the town. They bounced from the roof of a store, to the roof of a truck to the middle of the alley she had woken up in earlier. Marianna made sure to stay behind him. He had the magic stick, she had sarcasm; she knew who was the one most capable of fighting at the moment.

"Hello mate." An all too familiar voice greeted from the shadows.

Marianna poked out from behind Jack. "_Bunny_?"

This had caught the Pooka off guard. "_Mary_?"

"Oh, thank the Moon!" She cried as she ran over and hugged him. Bunny patted her on the head.

"Um, Mary. I have actually got some business to deal with here."

"Oh! Of course!" She let go, sidestepped out of the way and gestured to the two of them. "You guys, you know, do your thing."

Bunny redirected his attention towards Jack."Been a long time, Frost. Blizzard of '68 I believe." Bunny pointed a boomerang at him. "Easter Sunday, wasn't it?"

"Oh,Bunny!"Jack leaned against his staff. "You're not still mad about that, are you?"

Bunny furrowed his brow. "_Yes_. But this is about something else." He smirked. "Fellas."

Marianna watched as two Yetis emerged from the darkness, grabbed Jack and shoved him into a sack. "Bunny! What on Earth are you doing?"

Bunny turned to face her. "Your father sent me to find him, and you. Imagine my surprise, being able to kill two birds with one stone. Care to explain?"

"He was taking me home. Which he wouldn't have even needed to do if Daddy Dearest didn't have Yetis throwing me into unmarked closets filled with snowglobes." She put both hands on her hips.

Bunny nodded. "I guess that's a pretty good excuse. Still, we need to get him back." He looked up at the Yetis. "Boys."

They nodded. The first Yeti smashed a snowglobe on the ground while the second threw the sack containing Jack into the portal. "You go with them." Bunny instructed her.

Marianna stood in front of the portal and looked at him. "But what about you?" She pointed to the portal.

"Me?" He laughed. "Not on your Nellie." He thumped his foot and a tunnel open up beneath him. "See you at the Pole."

Marianna nodded in understanding before stepping through the portal, followed by the Yetis. Bunny jumped into the tunnel and it closed behind him, leaving a single red flower in its place.

* * *

**Wow! I am on a roll.**

**Just so you know, I plan to elaborate on the 'reindeer incident' at some other ****time. Possibly in a series of one-shots I plan to do when this story's finished. **

**Please review!**


	6. Home Sweet Home

North paced back and forth in front of the fireplace. Toothiana gave instructions to her fairies. Sandy waited nearby.

"Ahhh." North groaned. "Bunny should be back by now."

"He's looking all over the world for two people with no idea where they could be. I know that you're worried about Mary, I am too, but you've got to give him some time, North." Tooth replied. "See, Sandy agrees with me." Sandy nodded vigourrously.

"Yes. But we haven't got time to spare! Pitch is doing who knows what! Jack Frost could be who knows where! And Marianna, she's never left the Pole, who knows what's happened to her?" He leaned against the fireplace's mantle and put his head in his hands.

Tooth noticed this change in demeanour and flew over to him."Why do I feel like this is about something else?"

North looked into the flames. "Before she disappeared. Marianna and I, we had argument."

"Uh-huh. And what was that argument about?"

"Out of blue. Marianna says, she wants to leave. That she wants to see world. To go somewhere that, isn't here."

Tooth put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "North, you knew that this day was coming. They've got leave the nest sometime."

"Yes, I know that." He turned to face her. "But what if she does not come back?"

Tooth sighed. "I guess that's just the risk that you have to take."

Before they could say anything else, Sandy frantically tugged on the North's trouser leg. He pointed wildly to the centre of the room.

"Oh, finally!"

The portal had opened up and a sack was thrown unceremoniously thrown through, it didn't move. Moments laters Marianna staggered in, followed by the two yetis. "Yeah." She muttered. "I am definitely not going to get used to that."

"Oh thank goodness!" Tooth cried out. She buzzed around her, lifting up limbs and sticking fingers in her mouth to look for any damage. "There's nothing injured is there? Did you chip a tooth? Have you broken a nail?"

Calmly, Marianna took a hold of her hands. "Tooth, Tooth, I'm fine."

"But, but, were where you? What happened? Your Father said you just vanished into thin air."

"I kinda did. I may have opened a portal accidentally and fallen in."

"And where did you end up?"

"Pennsylvania." Bunny answered from the side of the room. "Gave us quite the scare there, Sheila."

"It's not like I wanted to." Marianna retorted indignantly and pointed to her father. "He's the one who has Yetis shoving me in closets." She looked at North. "I still like'd to know why that had to happen."

North strode over and gave her a bone-crushing hug. Hesistantly, she hugged back. "Still doesn't answer my question Dad." She turned her attention to Sandy who proceeded to try and explain with multiple symbols, Marianna didn't follow. "Thanks Sandy, but still no idea."

North let her go. "Pitch Black attacked the Pole."

Marianna frowned. "Wait. As in the, the Boogeyman?" She looked to Bunny. "But I thought you got rid if him in the Dark Ages?"

"Yeah, so did we." Bunny chuffed.

"So what are you guys going to do?"

"Man in Moon has chosen new Guardian." North explained.

"Really, when?"

"Last night." answered Tooth.

"So who is it?"

"Jack Frost." Norin indicated to the sack with his head.

Marianna nervously pointed to the unmoving Sack. "So, he's in there?" North nodded. "Then why isn't it moving?" Everyone turned to look at Bunny.

He raised his 'hands' up in defense. "Maybe, the Yetis were a little rough with him."

"He's unconscious."

"Alright, maybe more than a little."

Marianna tried to change the topic. "He's not going to be very happy when he wakes up, is he?"

"And why would that be?" North chuckled.

"He's been thrown into a sack and knocked out. Who would be happy about that?"

North saw her logic."Maybe you should get out of here."

* * *

Marianna was happy to see things hadn't gone to a complete shambles without her overseeing things. She was going over inventory on her notebook in the workshop. At this moment the Guardians were beginning Jack's initiation. Marianna wondered if he was taking the news well.

This thought was cut short by her father's ever booming voice. "Ah! Sugarplum! How are we doing?"

Marianna checked the notepad. "What's to be expected. Everyone's working hard. The Elves are still occupied so we haven't got that to worry about. How are things on your end?"

"They're alright." North replied cautiously given who was with him. Marianna was too engrossed to realise that they had company.

Jack poked his head out from behind North."Hello."

Marianna looked up from the notepad in surprise at who it was. "Hello."

North gestured to Jack "Marianna, I would like you to meet-"

"-Jack Frost. I know."

North furrowed his brow. "You know?"

"We've met." Jack explained.

"You have?"

"Yes." They replied in unison. They looked at each other oddly before letting it slide.

"Jack here was going to help me get home, that is, until Bunny showed up." Marianna elaborated.

North raised an eyebrow at Jack. "Oh he did, did he?"

"What? I can be helpful." He tried to feign innocence, North was not convinced.

"I see." He patted Marianna on the head. "Well, Sugarplum, we must be going."

"Alright. You guys go do whatever it is that Guardians do." She smiled, not noticing the uncomfortable look the two gave each other before walking by.

It was at this moment that Marianna realised realised something had completely slipped her mind. "Jack?" She called out. Jack spun to face her in the crowd as North kept on going. "I don't think I ever thanked you for what you were going to do for me."

"Well, you did blackmail me and I never even got you out of Burgess." He shrugged.

"Still, I just wanted to say, that I really appreciate it."

Jack grinned sincerely."I'm glad." He turned and went to catch up with North.

Marianna smiled awkwardly before continuing down the way to two of them had just came from.

"Why are you repainting the robots!"

* * *

**So what you guys think? The plot's picking up now!**

**Do you guys have any concerns? Is anyone to OOC? Is Marianna too Sue-ish?**

**Please review!**


	7. Take Off

After resolving the issue of repainting of the robots (no thanks to North), Marianna made her way to the upper levels. Sandy was taking a nap while Bunny was diligently painting an egg, a quality that Marianna had always admired about the Easter Bunny. Because, yes, he was huge and Australian and she was pretty sure he was capable of destroying a person in 17 different ways. But he was so much more than that. He loved what he did, bringing hope to children. And sure, everyone joked about him being a giant, fluffy bunny rabbit, but not with any sincerity. Because he wasn't just any bunny, he was _the_ _Easter_ Bunny.

"Having fun?" She asked.

"Oh, a barrel full." He replied sarcastically. "Tell me, can your father not comprehend the idea of presents with a short life expectancy."

"Afraid so, we get all year to work." She sat down in front of him.

"Yeah, well, we all can't be so lucky."

Marianna looked around. "Where'd Tooth go?" She missed the fairy's company, it had been a while since she had last seen her.

"The Palace. She should be here soon."

"Ah." Marianna watched in complete fascination as he added the finishing touches to the egg. Bunny looked up.

"Instead if sitting there twiddling your thumbs,you can help by painting one of these." He handed her an egg and a paint brush.

"Oh." She accepted them from him. "Okay."

They stayed like that for a while, both working on their eggs as Sandy snored silently in the corner. Finally, Bunny broke the silence. "So. Sandy tells me that you and your dad had an argument?"

"Oh he did, did he?"She cast a dirty look at the Sandman who, lucky for him, was still fast asleep.

"Want to talk about it?"

"Not really, Fluffy Bunny."

Bunny was annoyed that she was using the old nickname but didn't press her to go any further. Marianna looked up. "So how did the new Guardian take the news?"

"Not well."

"How so?"

"He froze three elves." Marianna looked behind her to see the elves in question who still hadn't thawed yet, wondering how she had missed that. "We probably should do something about that."

"So, he's not a Guardian?"

"That's right, and if you ask me, we've dodged a pretty big bullet." Bunny smirked. "Speaking of the little blighter, what were you two doing?"

Marianna frowned. "Like I said, he was going to take me here."

"Honestly? He agreed to take you?"

"Well, I did pin him down and blackmail him."

Bunny chuckled. "I taught you well, Sheila."

Marianna smiled innocently before presenting the egg for his approval. Bunny wrinkled his nose, "Well maybe not well in _everything_." Marianna pouted. She was about to argue back before Sandy, who had woken up without them noticing, poked her in the shoulder.

"Sandy, what's wrong?" Marianna put the egg down. A tooth appeared above his head.

Bunny got up, obviously concerned. "He's right. Tooth should have been back by now, something must have happened." He helped her to her feet. "Get your things. I'm getting North. And Sandy." Sandy looked up. "Don't let her disappear again." Sandy gave a thumbs up as Bunny headed to the elevator. They looked at each-other before Marianna smacked her forehead.

"Shit!" She ran off in the direction of her room. "Sandy!" She called out. "Go catch up will Bunny! I'll meet you at the sleigh!" She disappeared from sight leaving Sandy all alone.

Sandy hovered, confused, before shaking his head in annoyance.

He was getting too old for this.

* * *

"Where is it? Where is it?"

Marianna had always prided herself on the impeccable standard that her bedroom was kept in. So why she couldn't find what she was looking for was beyond her. It could have been that she hadn't used it in a while that it wasn't in its usually place.

"Bloody elves." She promised herself that this would be the last time she left the door unlocked. They were always wandering in and making a mess that she would need to clean up. She reached a hand under her bed and pulled it out. "Bingo." She grinned.

* * *

Jack Frost had made it very clear that he did not wish to join them. But would they listen?

No.

But then he saw the sleigh. And he figured that one trip wouldn't hurt before he was on his way. The four of them were just about ready to go when a voice called out.

"Wait!" Marianna rushed over to them, adjusting the strap on the small black bag that slung across her body, through the crowd of Yetis.

North loosened his grip on the reins. "Marianna, what are you doing?

"Coming with you."She hopped up and stood on the outer side of the sleigh.

North shook his head."No. Too dangerous. You stay here."

"And what if Pitch shows up while you're gone? I think we've clarified that Yetis aren't very good caregivers."

They stared into each other's eyes, not wanting to stand down. Stubbornness, much like the pale skin and blue eyes, must have been genetic.

Eventually, North relented. "Alright, but you stay in sleigh."

Marianna beamed, swung a leg over the side, narrowly missing Bunny's head, and took a seat next to Sandy. North looked over his shoulder at them. "Buckle up." He instructed.

Bunny pawed at the wooden seats frantically. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Where are the bloody seatbelts?"

North laughed. "That was just expression! Are we ready?" The Yeti next to him shook his head. "Let's go!" He commanded the reindeer to start and they were off.

Everyone reacted to the icy tunnels differently. Sandy was waving his arms as if on a rollercoaster, Marianna was screaming, Jack was laughing and Bunny was digging his nails in the side for dear life. Jack watched as they passed the last few wooden towers containing Yetis.

"I hope you like the loop-di-loop!" North called out.

"I hope you like carrots!" Bunny vomited in his mouth.

"Here we go!" North warned them as the light at the end of the tunnel came fast approaching. He cracked the reins and they went speeding up the wooden ramp into the northern sky.

* * *

**I'm going to try and elaborate the relationships between the Guardians because the film didn't get a lot of time for it.**

**Also if anyone knows some good Australian idioms (for Bunny) , please let me know.**

**Please review!**


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